Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock has confirmed that the club have moved to tie Marvin Johnson and George Friend down to new deals, but are awaiting the pair’s decision on the contracts offered.

Warnock has overseen Boro’s fight for survival in the Championship and is now planning to take the club forward in 2020/21.

The playing squad at the Riverside needs fine tuning, but Warnock is looking to stick with Johnson and Friend, who were impressive in the final nine games of the season as Boro avoided the drop.

Quiz: Can you name these 12 Middlesbrough players just by looking at their Wikipedia bios?

 

Now, it has been confirmed by Warnock that the pair have been handed a lifeline to stick around.

"They’ve been offered new deals and they can have the time to decide," said Warnock, as quoted on the club’s official website.

"I think we’ll probably know in the next seven days about both of those players.

"Marvin did ever so well and was a very good asset, and George is George isn't he? He is good around the club and he looks after the dressing room. He’s an exceptional pro and I’d like to think he will be in our squad next season.”

Warnock’s decision has been regarded as the right one by some members of the Boro fanbase, but others questions why he wants to keep left-sided Johnson around.

Here, we take a look at the reaction of the Boro faithful following this news…